Now that we are into the Round of 16 Leg 1 of the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League we have another match-up for Tuesday the 23rd of February between the Juventus F.C. (1st in Series A) playing FC Bayern Munich (1st in Bundesliga) with the game being played at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy with the kick-off scheduled for 2:45 PM ET.
For those that Bet on Soccer at an online betting site, the Bayern Munich is favored at +120 on the Money Line with the Total 2 ½ under -150 and -1/2 +120 on the Goal Line, while Juventus is +260 on the Money Line and + ½ -140 on the Goal Line with the Draw being at +225.
Last season the Juventus team made it to the final in this UEFA Champions League Tournament, but this season they may struggle to get past this Round of 16 as they are facing the powerful German team the Bayern M. whom this season are favorites to make it to the quarterfinals which would be in the ultimate 8 years some 7 times. But the Italian Champs Juventus are performing very well and in this game will have the advantage of playing on their home field in this 1st leg Tuesday game.
For the fans of Juventus (the Old Lady) your team had a good run into this Round of 16 as in their Group D games they were 3-2-1 losing only 1 game, and that loss was on the road against Sevilla. The loss kept them from winning their group, and as a result they now face the German giants Bayern Munich.
But never fear the Italian Champs Juventus have a lot of confidence coming into this round, ever as they struggled in the 1st months of their regular season, the coming back and winning some 15 games to retake the Italian Serie A lead.
Their home field has treated them well since they have only lost once in their ultimate 15 Serie A games to date, and allowing opponents to score only 6 goals. On defense their backline has only conceded 1 lone goal in their 1st ten games of all phases of competition in this 2016 part of their UEFA Champions League season.
Their offense is performing well and now has P. Dybala in their lineup, although the Argentinean has not scored in the Champions League, but in other play he has managed some 8 assists and 13 goals, so be sure and watch him as he is overdue in the CL, and with Bayern M missing key players defensively for this game. Accompanying Dybala will be M. Mandzukic a striker formerly of Bayern M. (having 6 goals to date), A. Morata and midfielder P. Pogba.
If you’re a fan of Bayern Munich you know that the manager Pep Guardiola will be leaving Bayern at the end of this season to take the helm at Manchester City, and that will be a big loss for Bayern since his time at the helm he has won just about everything that could have won, with the exception of this Champions League tournament. With them presently leading their Bundesliga in Germany, they will now be seeking a Title in this Champions League.
To date they rolled over their opponents in their Group F winning 5 of the 6 games, allowing the opponents only 3 goals while they scored some 19 goals. However, on their road games they only scored 5 times and lost their only game to Arsenal and it also was on the road. The teams led by Guardiola for whatever reason have struggled in their road games in this Tournament, as they have only managed to win 4 of 16 away games, with 5 losses and seven ties. Plus last season Bayern was unable to post a win in all 3 of their knockout stage away games that included losses to Barcelona 3-0 and Porto 3-1.
A big problem this season has been the injuries to their center backs, but even with those injuries they always seem to turn up good results, and when they have their powerful strikers in T. Mueller and R. Lewandowski starting, and along with A. Robben and D. Costa at the wings, they are capable of scoring at any moment.
The online gambling prediction for this Round of 16-1st Leg game between Juventus and Bayern M. will see both teams’ defenses prevail and this 1st-Leg game will end in a scoreless draw 0-0!